Tout Etre est le mirroir de sa communaute.

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” All being is the mirror of his community.”

I am a young proud girl from Guinea. I was born in United States and raised in Guinea. I have been living in Guinea for 15 years. It is the country of joy happiness and love even though we passed through a lot problems ( colonisation, dictatorship strikes ). living in Guinea for 15 years is interesting because I have the privilege to know a lot about my culture. the society is very traditional. little brothers have to respect their older siblings. girls have to learn how to cook. for my own experience, every sunday I cook a meal for my family and brothers clean the cars and take care of the garden. Even thought we are a cultural country, some tribes never get alone for example mandingos and fulanis and it’s affect politics and social life. during the time Europeans made boundaries in Guinea, they did not respect the cultural boundaries which made some cultural fight.

these are mandingo women in there traditinal clothes at their annual party with all the mandingos around the world.

these are the Fulani girls with their traditional clothes on.

Introduction: The Guinea I know; what is my story?

The sentence at the title is a very important quotation. I remember my grand-mother telling me the day before I left Africa to make sure whenever I go to brings out the best of my community, and my family. I always remember this sentence before doing something. I think all the tribes in Africa have their own pride. that can lead to a good relationship, but it can also lead to fights. In history, we call that Nationalism. In Africa, telling that you are from whatever tribe should be a pride. personally, I am form the MANDINGOs tribe. Being a mandingo is something that I really like because we are very joyful. I remember every ” Aid Mubarak” sosso tribes always come to mandingos to sing their praises, and when they do that it’s make me very special.

Geography of Guinea image of a map

guinea is located in west africa, it is bordered on the north by senegal and part of mali, north-west by guinea-bissau, south by sierra leone and liberia, on the east by the cote-d’ivoire and a part of mali. it includes 4 natural regions and its capital is Conakry.

this is the map of Guinea including the three colors of our flag : red for people that died for the country, yellow for the mineral ressources and green for the beautiful vegetation.

Guinea before European Imperialism

Before the europeans, Guinea was ruled by Almamy Samory Toure great grand-father of Sekou Toure the pioneer of the independence of Guinea. Here is his story:

The Almamy Samory Touré (or Samori Touré), born around 1830 in Miniambaladougou, in present-day Guinea, fell in Guélémou, present-day Ivory Coast, and died June 2, 1900 in Ndjolé, current Gabon, was the founder of the Wassoulou empire; he resisted French penetration and colonization in West Africa. The former and first president of Guinea, Ahmed Sekou Toure, was the great-grandson of Samory.

Samory toure was the ruler of Guinea when Europeans arrived in Guinea. this picture was taken in 1898

Imperialism in Guinea: in the second half of the 19th century, France, employing alternately force and diplomacy, seized not without difficulty the greater part of the west of the Sudan (present-day Mali). it takes toumbouctou, pushes to Lake Chad and occupies the Guinean coast, the current guinee emptied by the slave trade is then almost depleuplee. however, the tropical climate will discourage many French people from settling because of the diseases that decimate them. in 1891, guinea was a French colony, independently of Senegal, to which it had previously been attached. however, this conquest does not occur without resistance. Samory toure, relay then by the people of the forest, leads an organized war against the French occupation on the coast and in the mountainous massifs of the south-east. In 1899, the regions of the high niger are annexed to the territory.In 1904, Guinea became an integral part of French West Africa, administered by a governorate general. the French indistrues develop plantations of coffee, banana and palm oil as well as the mining activity (bauxite)thanks to forced workers. Independance of Guinea: Exception among the thirteen territories of French Africa, Guinea voted “no” in the referendum of September 28, 1958 for the creation of the Franco-African Community, following the position of the dominant party of the President of the Government Council Sékou Touré. Taking the alternative he asked during his African trip in August, de Gaulle analyzes this vote as a desire to break with the metropolis, compared to other countries that agree to join the Community before gaining independence. negotiated between each territory and Paris. The French government sent a communiqué to Sekou Toure as early as the 29th to draw the consequences of this “secession”: the immediate departure of State agents apart from a few technical services, such as the Treasury or air and maritime security, a rapid withdrawal of the French army and gendarmerie and the elimination of financial and customs assistance, such as the questioning of the guarantee for the Konkouré electricity production project. The Republic of Guinea is proclaimed on October 2nd but its president, Sékou Touré, does not intend to break with France. He continues from October to mid-December to seek the official recognition of his country by France, the establishment of diplomatic relations and the maintenance of Guinea in the franc zone. But the unanswered messages from Paris and the ambiguities of the French government around the recognition of Guinea and the negotiation of cooperation agreements lead Sékou Touré to turn to other states. Ambassadors are sent to the countries of French West Africa and western capitals, while Sékou Touré is getting closer to independent African states, first of all Ghana, and Eastern countries. French pressure to make every African nation their own around Guinea as the capital of the “Franco African” community was failing. At the end of November, the new Republic is already recognized by 57 countries, including Great Britain and the United States who intend to prevent it from tipping into the camp of the East. Guinea obtains admission to the United Nations on 12 December, while France abstains from voting.

Sekou toure is the man that lead Guinea to independence. he was the great grandson of samory toure. Because the Europeans deported his grand father, sekou was doing a revenge.

proclamation of independence:

Whatever this was the case or not, Sékou Touré forcefully forged his place in world history between 25 August and 2 October, 1958. On 25 August, he told General Charles de Gaulle that the African people will never, under any circumstances, renounce their natural rights to freedom and liberty. He added that Africans are not French and that Africa cannot be reduced to French territories, before announcing famously: “We prefer poverty in liberty to riches in slavery.” Then, on 28 September, Guinea stood alone amongst its fellow African counterparts in responding with a resounding “no” to de Gaulle’s proposal that instead of full independence, France’s African territories become part of a semi-colonial French-African Community. As a result of this position, Guinea proclaimed its independence on 2 October, 1958, with Sékou Touré as its head of state.

Guinea after Imperialism:

When France left Guinea the Guineans turned to the British for assistance in economics and social assistance through education. The French took everything with them and destroyed the books and libraries as they left.

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I LIKE YOUR STORY AM ALSO FROM SIERRA LEONE AND I LEARNED FROM YOUR STORY HOW TRIBALISM AFFECT SOCIAL LIFE AND POLITICS. THINGS LIKE THAT ALSO HAPPEN IN MY COUNTRY THE MENDE AND THE TEMNE PEOPLE NEVER GET ALONG ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO POLITICS AND POLITICAL PARTIES. WE HAVE SO MANY POLITICAL PARTIES IN SIERRA LEONE BUT WE HAVE TWO MAIN ONES WHICH ARE THE ‘APC THAT IS THE ALL PEOPLE’S CONGRESS” AND THE ” SLPP THAT IS THE SIERRA LEONE PEOPLE’S PARTY” AND MOST OF THE MENDE PEOPLE BELONGS TO THE SLPP AND MOST TEMNE TO THE APC THIS IS WHAT BRING THE FIGHT THEY NEVER GET ALONG BECAUSE OF THESE PARTIES.